Examination of protective factors that promote prosocial skill development among children exposed to intimate partner violence.

This retrospective cohort study examined prosocial skills development in child welfare-involved children, how intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure explained heterogeneity in children's trajectories of prosocial skill development, and the degree to which protective factors across children's ecologies promoted prosocial skill development. Data were from 1,678 children from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being I, collected between 1999 and 2007. Cohort-sequential growth mixture models were estimated to identify patterns of prosocial skill development between the ages of 3 to 10 years. Four diverse pathways were identified, including two groups that started high (high subtle-decreasing; high decreasing-to-increasing) and two groups that started low (low stable; low increasing-to-decreasing). Children with prior history of child welfare involvement, preschool-age IPV exposure, school-age IPV exposure, or family income below the federal poverty level had higher odds of being in the high decreasing-to-increasing group compared with the high subtle-decreasing group. Children with a mother with greater than high school education or higher maternal responsiveness had higher odds of being in the low increasing-to-decreasing group compared with the low stable group. The importance of maternal responsiveness in fostering prosocial skill development underlines the need for further assessment and intervention. Recommendations for clinical assessment and parenting programs are provided.

Parenting attitudes and behaviors among parents involved with the child welfare system and affected by substance use disorders.

BACKGROUND: Co-occurring parental substance use and child maltreatment is a serious concern in the U.S child welfare system. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine parenting attitudes and practices among parents who participated in Ohio START (Sobriety, Treatment, And Reducing Trauma), a statewide initiative that provides support to families affected by co-occurring parental substance use and child maltreatment. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Study 1 involved quantitative data collected from 73 enrolled parents through pre-test and post-test telephone surveys. Study 2 (parent interviews) involved qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with 34 enrolled parents. METHODS: The paired-sample t-test and the McNemar test were conducted in Study 1 and thematic analysis was conducted in Study 2. RESULTS: Quantitative analysis indicated significant improvements in parental expectations of children (t = -3.42, p = .001, Cohen's d = -0.40), parent-child family roles (t = -5.74, p < .001, Cohen's d = -0.67), and children's power and independence (t = -3.42, p = .001, Cohen's d = -0.40). Qualitative analysis revealed six themes related to changes in parenting after participation in Ohio START: (1) Being present for children, (2) Engaging in activities with children, (3) Enjoyment in providing care to children, (4) Maintaining employment for financial stability, (5) Better emotion regulation and stress management, and (6) a sense of pride. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate positive changes in parenting attitudes and practices among parents who participated in Ohio START and provide further support for the potential merits of this model and its continued expansion throughout Ohio.

Trajectories of resilience among young children involved with child protective services.

Although child maltreatment is associated with short- and long-term maladaptive outcomes, some children are still able to display resilience. Currently, there is a limited understanding of how children's resilience changes over time after experiencing maltreatment, especially for young children. Therefore, the current study used a longitudinal, multidimensional approach to examine trajectories of resilience among very young children involved in child protective services and determine whether placement setting and caregiving behaviors are associated with resilience trajectories. This study used data from National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being I and conducted repeated measures latent class analysis, focusing on children under 2 years old at baseline (n = 1,699). Results suggested that there were three trajectories of resilience: increasing resilience, decreasing resilience, and stable, low resilience. Caregiver cognitive stimulation was related to increasing trajectories of resilience compared to both decreasing and stable, low resilience. These findings illustrate the importance of caregiving behaviors for promoting resilience among a particularly vulnerable population.

Association between longitudinal patterns of child maltreatment experiences and adolescent substance use.

BACKGROUND: Although there is a well-established link between child maltreatment and adolescent substance use, it remains unclear if and how longitudinal patterns of maltreatment experiences are associated with substance use in adolescence. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to examine how distinct patterns of longitudinal maltreatment experiences are associated with adolescent substance use. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The participants were 899 adolescents from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). METHODS: We conducted repeated measures latent class analysis (RMLCA) to identify patterns of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect from birth to age 17 and their relations to tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use at age 18. RESULTS: RMLCA identified three physical abuse classes (Stable low physical abuse; School age peak physical abuse; Physical abuse primarily in infancy/toddlerhood), two sexual abuse classes (Stable no/low sexual abuse; School age peak sexual abuse), and three neglect classes (High neglect in childhood; Neglect primarily in infancy/toddlerhood; Neglect primarily at school age). Adolescents in the school age peak physical abuse class showed greater alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, compared to other physical abuse classes. Similarly, adolescents in the school age peak sexual abuse class showed greater substance use than those in the stable no/low sexual abuse class. Lastly, adolescents in the neglect primarily in infancy/toddlerhood class showed significantly less substance use than those in the other two neglect classes. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of early intervention and ongoing maltreatment prevention.

Can resilience change over time? Patterns and transitions in resilience among young children involved with the child welfare system.

This study examined transitions in resilience profiles and the role of caregiver risk and protective factors in resilience transition probabilities over 18 months among children involved with the child welfare system, using latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis. The sample included 486 children (48% female, baseline Mage = 3.49). There were three resilience profiles at Time 1 (19.9% low emotional behavioral, 26.1% low cognitive, 54.0% multidomain) and two profiles at Time 2 (18.9% low emotional behavioral, 81.1% multidomain). Caregiver mental health problems were negatively associated with membership in the multidomain resilience group at Time 1. Higher levels of cognitive stimulation were associated with initial and continued membership in the multidomain resilience group. Implications for resilient child development are discussed.

Environment matters: How are neighborhood structural indexes associated with parenting stress among Asian immigrant families?

The Asian immigrant population is the fourth largest immigrant population in the United States, and its parenting stress issues have been consistently recognized in previous studies. However, little attention has been paid to neighborhood-level factors and their parenting stress. Using the Study of Asian American Families and 2016 American Community Survey 5-year estimates, this study examined the association between neighborhood structural indexes and Asian immigrant parents' parenting stress, along with the mechanism driving the relationship. We found that cultural orientation and social support fully mediated the effects of economic disadvantages on parenting stress among Asian immigrant parents. Only cultural orientation mediated the direct effects of ethnic heterogeneity on Asian parents' parenting stress. Improving Asian immigrants' living environment, including economic status and ethnic diversity, would be critical to relieve the parenting stress of Asian immigrant families. Interventions and preventions to increase social support, and inform cultural orientation and acculturation are emphasized.

Coparenting, parental anxiety/depression, and child behavior problems: The actor-partner interdependence model with low-income married couples.

A considerable amount of research has suggested significant associations among perceived coparenting relationships, parental anxiety/depression, and children's adjustment. Although family members' function is influenced by other members in a shared context, much of the prior work relied on one parent's perspective to examine the relationship between both parents. To address this important limitation, we applied the actor-partner interdependence model and accounted for the interdependence between fathers and mothers in examining the mediating role of parental anxiety/depression in the association between coparenting quality and child behavior problems. The present study included 1,827 low-income couples from the Supporting Healthy Marriage project (mothers: 51.25% of White, 14.34% African American, 35.31% Hispanic; fathers: 48.11% White, 18.54% African/Black American, 35.34% Hispanic). The results showed that both fathers' and mothers' perceptions of coparenting quality had significant effects on fathers' anxiety/depression. In contrast, mothers' anxiety/depression was affected only by mothers' perceptions of coparenting quality and not by fathers' perceptions. Overall, the effects of parents' perception of coparenting on children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were largely mediated by parental anxiety/depression. The findings highlight both interdependent and independent roles of fathers and mothers in the pathways from coparenting quality to children's behavior problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A Qualitative Study of Risk and Protective Factors for Resilience in Survivors of Sex Trafficking.

This study explored risk and protective factors for resilience in survivors of sex trafficking from the survivors' perspectives. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 participants recruited from survivor-led advocacy agencies and social service agencies that provide trafficking-specific services. Two overarching themes emerged from data analysis: (a) deep connections to self and others facilitate resilience and (b) detrimental "help" threatens survivors' resilience. Our findings suggest that it may be important for service providers to assist survivors build healthy relationships with themselves and others to promote survivors' resilience. Further, our results highlight the importance of offering more inclusive, survivor-centered, and trauma-informed services.

Sex Differences in Suicidal Ideation: Mediating Effects of Alcohol Abuse/Dependence on Suicidal Ideation through Psychological Distress and Hopelessness.

This article aims to investigate the impact of psychological distress and hopelessness as mediators in the relationship between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and suicidal ideation among young adults. The study employed data from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, focusing on participants aged 18 to 25. The PROCESS macro was used to conduct a moderated mediation analysis. The findings revealed that AUD, psychological distress, and hopelessness were all significant risk factors for suicidal ideation among young adults. Furthermore, psychological distress and hopelessness served as significant mediators in the relationship between AUD and suicidal ideation. The study highlights the need for interventions and treatments that address co-occurring alcohol use and psychological distress/hopelessness in both sexes, for young adults at risk of suicide. In summary, the study underscores the importance of recognizing the underlying factors that contribute to suicidal ideation among young adults, especially those with AUD, psychological distress, and hopelessness.

Father-Mother Co-Involvement in Child Maltreatment: Associations of Prior Perpetration, Parental Substance Use, Parental Medical Conditions, Inadequate Housing, and Intimate Partner Violence with Different Maltreatment Types.

The current study applied a family systems approach to examine dyadic parental risk factors linked with mother-father co-involved physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. Parental substance use, mental health problems, disability and medical conditions, inadequate housing, economic insecurity, intimate partner violence, and prior maltreatment history were investigated as key risk factors at the dyadic parental level. Logistic regression analysis was conducted using national child welfare administrative data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. The results showed differential associations between risk factors and four child maltreatment types: physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. Intimate partner violence was associated with higher odds of mother-father co-involved neglect and emotional abuse. Parental substance use, inadequate housing, and prior maltreatment history were all associated with higher odds of mother-father co-involved neglect, but lower odds of physical abuse. Parental disability and medical conditions were associated with higher odds of mother-father co-involved sexual abuse, whereas parental substance use was associated with lower odds of sexual abuse. Implications include more nuanced ways of addressing multiple risk factors within the family to prevent future occurrences of child maltreatment involving both mothers and fathers.

Patterns of coparenting and young children's social-emotional adjustment in low-income families.

This study identified coparenting patterns using data collected across 2007-2010 from low-income couples (N = 2915; 26.90% non-Hispanic White; 9.41% non-Hispanic Black; 34.24% Hispanic, 29.27% other or mixed race) with young children (M = 3.65 years; SD = 1.31 years; 48% girls) and examined relations with children's social-emotional adjustment. Latent profile analysis revealed four coparenting patterns: mutual high-quality (43.4%), moderate-quality, mothers less positive (31.8%), moderate-quality, fathers less positive (15.9%), and low-quality, mothers less positive (8.9%). When parents' perspectives on coparenting were positive and congruent, children fared best. Children also fared well when coparenting quality was moderate, and mothers were less positive than fathers. When coparenting quality was moderate and fathers were less positive than mothers, children showed the poorest adjustment.

Contextual factors of child behavioral health across developmental stages.

This study examines the relative influence of environmental contexts (family, school, neighborhood) on child behavioral health at ages 3, 5, 9, and 15 years. Path analysis was conducted on a sample of 4,898 urban children from a longitudinal dataset called the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Child physical abuse, emotional abuse, maternal depression, substance use, neighborhood social cohesion, neighborhood poverty, school connectedness, and peer bullying had concurrent relationships with child behavior problems at one or more developmental stages. Early childhood abuse (age 3) and school age environmental contexts (age 9) had lasting effects on later behavior problems. Findings underscore the importance of both multilevel contextual factors and developmental timing in determining behavioral health outcomes in children.

Implementation and Mental Health Outcomes of a Service Cascade Linking Child Welfare and Children's Mental Health Systems: A Case Study of the Gateway CALL Demonstration.

The mental health needs of children and youth involved in the child welfare system remain largely unmet. Service cascades are an emerging approach to systematizing mental health screening, assessment, and treatment referral processes. However, evidence is minimal and inconsistent regarding the effectiveness of such approaches for improving mental health service access and outcomes. In an effort to address this gap, this study presents a case-study of the implementation fidelity and treatment outcomes of the Gateway CALL service cascade. Study analyses involved longitudinal data collected as part of a larger evaluation of Gateway CALL. Specifically, descriptive and linear mixed model analyses were conducted to assess the implementation of service cascade components, and changes in mental health outcomes (behavior problems) among 175 children placed out-of-home during the study. Study analyses found that although fidelity was strong early in the service cascade, implementation began to break down once components involved more than one service system (child welfare, mental health). However, results also indicated that parent-reported child behavior problems decreased significantly over time, despite later cascade components being implemented with poor fidelity to the Gateway CALL service model. For children and youth involved in child welfare systems, service cascades like Gateway CALL have the potential to significantly improve both mental health service receipt and outcomes. To maximize the effectiveness of such approaches, later phases of implementation may require increased attention and support, particularly regarding processes and outcomes that cross child welfare and mental health service systems.

Longitudinal examination of resilience among child welfare-involved adolescents: The roles of caregiver-child relationships and deviant peer affiliation.

Despite growing attention to resilience following childhood maltreatment, it remains unclear how the development of resilience unfolds over time among child welfare-involved adolescents. Further, little is known about the immediate and enduring effects of two important attachments in children's lives, namely caregiver-child relationship and deviant peer affiliation, on resilience development over time. This study sought to examine the ways in which caregiver-child relationships and deviant peer affiliation shape developmental trajectories of resilience among child welfare-involved youth. Data were drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Latent growth curve modeling was conducted on a sample of 711 adolescents. The results revealed that adolescents' resilience increased across a 36-month period since initial contact with Child Protective Services. Better caregiver-child relationships were associated with a higher initial level of resilience among adolescents, whereas higher deviant peer affiliation was associated with a lower initial level of resilience. Significant lagged effects were also found; caregiver-child relationship quality and deviant peer affiliation at baseline were associated with resilience at 18 months after. The findings suggest that interventions that aim to promote positive caregiver-child relationships and prevent deviant peer relationships may help foster resilience among adolescents who have experienced child maltreatment.

Early childhood maltreatment and profiles of resilience among child welfare-involved children.

Given the high burden of child maltreatment, there is an urgent need to know more about resilient functioning among those who have experienced maltreatment. The aims of the study were to: 1) identify distinct profiles of resilience across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social domains in young children involved in the child welfare system; and 2) examine maltreatment characteristics and family protective factors in relation to the identified resilience profiles. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-II). Latent profile analysis was performed on a sample of 827 children aged 3-5 years (46% girls, Mean age = 3.96). Three distinct resilience profiles were identified: 1) low cognitive resilience (24%); 2) low emotional and behavioral resilience (20%); and 3) multidomain resilience (56%). Caregiver cognitive stimulation, no out-of-home placement, higher caregiver education level, older child age, and being a girl were associated with the multidomain resilience profile. The findings provide empirical support for the multifaceted nature of resilience and suggest that practitioners need to help children achieve optimal and balanced development by assessing, identifying, and targeting those domains in which children struggle to obtain competence.

Understanding Family Risk and Protective Factors That Shape Child Development.

Understanding the various family characteristics and contextual factors that shape children's health and developmental outcomes is important for promoting optimal child development [...].

The Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Resilience Profiles on School Outcomes among Children in the Child Welfare System.

This study aimed to examine the association between early childhood resilience profiles and later school outcomes (academic achievement and school involvement) among children in the U.S. child welfare system. This study compared 827 children aged 3-5 years in three latent profile groups (poor emotional and behavioral resilience, low cognitive resilience, and multi-domain resilience) to their baseline profiles using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-II). At the three-year follow-up, children with low emotional and behavioral resilience profiles and children with the multi-domain resilience profile had significantly higher basic reading skills, reading comprehension, and math reasoning compared to children with low scores on the cognitive resilience profile. Furthermore, children with the multi-domain resilience profile had significantly higher levels of emotional school engagement than did those with the low emotional and behavioral resilience profile and considerably higher levels of behavioral school engagement compared to those with the low cognitive resilience profile. The findings highlight the persistent effects of early resilience into the later childhood years. Moreover, our results suggest the need for early identification of and intervention for children with low cognitive or emotional/behavioral resilience during the preschool years to promote academic success and school engagement during the school-age years.

Racial differences in early adolescent substance use: Child abuse types and family/peer substance use as predictors.

This study examined the associations among child abuse types, family/peer substance use, and adolescent substance use, as well as testing whether these associations vary by race. The sample was derived from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (N = 562). Child sexual abuse, family substance use, and peer substance use were associated with a higher likelihood of adolescent substance use. Sexual abuse was more strongly associated with substance use in Black youth than in White youth. Conversely, greater peer substance use had a stronger association with substance use in White youth than in Black youth.

The Relative Influence of Family and Neighborhood Factors on Child Maltreatment at Critical Stages of Child Development.

This study examines the impact of family and neighborhood factors on physical and psychological abuse across three developmental stages of children: early childhood (age 3), young school age (age 5), and middle childhood (age 9). Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal national cohort study of children from 20 urban U.S. cities, are used. Path analysis is employed to investigate the longitudinal relationships between family and neighborhood context variables and abuse risk, as well as the importance of different factors at key developmental stages. Economic hardship, maternal substance use, intimate partner violence, and exposure to community violence are found to be related to child abuse risk regardless of developmental stage, while maternal depression and neighborhood informal social control are found to have impacts only within certain child development stages. Findings suggest the need for early intervention and prevention strategies that specifically target economic hardship, poverty, intimate partner violence, and exposure to community violence.

Benchmarking Trauma in Child Welfare: A Brief Report.

Trauma exposure is common; however, considerably higher rates are reported in some vulnerable groups including adults and children involved in child welfare systems. In this context, early screening and service linkage may ameliorate its negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of adults and children alike. Using data from two Ohio-based child welfare interventions targeting co-occurring maltreatment and substance use (Ohio START1 and EPIC2), the purpose of this brief report was to first describe the rate of trauma exposure among participating adults (Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs, N = 402), children 0-5 years (CTAC, N = 271) and youth 6-18 years (CTAC, N = 177), and second to benchmark observed rates against reported rates in other child welfare or similar populations across the United States. Results show that adults were exposed to 4.2 ACEs on average, a 24% increase over previous child welfare estimates. While mean CTAC scores were not significantly different among young children ages 0-5, older children reported on average 5.6 exposures which is 27% higher than previously reported estimates. Our findings highlight the difference in risk profiles between families involved child welfare due primarily to substance misuse and those without substance misuse concerns, or where substance misuse was not the primary cause of entry. We discuss implications for service provision and time-sensitive child welfare requirements.